Given the frustration of The Golden Compass being an incomplete movie, I was excited to see another attempt at the source material with this TV series. But after several episodes I still find myself preferring the movie. Now I'll admit this is an unfair starting comparison. There are three major problems I have with the series so far.
The first is Lyra's complete lack of personality. Book Lyra is a nearly uncontrollable adventurer and liar/storyteller, the latter of which is a crucial element to her personality that proves decisive throughout the story and her later growth as a person. Yet Dafne Keen's Lyra is simply missing that part of the character! The show may be following the original story reasonably closely for now, but major deviations in both story and character personalities will be required further down the road unless the producers are counting on viewers already knowing what will happen.
The second problem is that the daemons are conspicuously absent for all but the main characters, and even then only Pantalaimon and, to a lesser extent, Hester and the Golden Monkey, are really given any screen time. This is problematic because daemons are extensions of every person in the universe; cutting them out quite literally reduces a character to nothing. Like Lyra's missing personality, daemons are crucial to the story and cannot be ignored.
Finally, the show is just so slooooow. The first two books in the series are not long books and don't dawdle at any particular event. I think 8 episodes is too many to cover the first book. Perhaps the first book would have been better suited for 5, maybe 6 episodes.
Or better yet, a 2 1/2 hour movie! Which is what we nearly got over a decade ago until New Line Cinema panicked when they realized they weren't getting the movie that they expected and then chopped off the ending and (somewhat clumsily) rearranged the remainder of the second half. If they ever were to release the original version of the movie, I think I know which adaptation I'd prefer.
That all being said, the series is still well-designed, if perhaps a different vision of the world from the books and the film, with a solid score and visuals (minus the missing daemons). I question the drawing of material from outside the first book, but am willing to go with it. The early scenes involving Will also look promising for his character.
The first is Lyra's complete lack of personality. Book Lyra is a nearly uncontrollable adventurer and liar/storyteller, the latter of which is a crucial element to her personality that proves decisive throughout the story and her later growth as a person. Yet Dafne Keen's Lyra is simply missing that part of the character! The show may be following the original story reasonably closely for now, but major deviations in both story and character personalities will be required further down the road unless the producers are counting on viewers already knowing what will happen.
The second problem is that the daemons are conspicuously absent for all but the main characters, and even then only Pantalaimon and, to a lesser extent, Hester and the Golden Monkey, are really given any screen time. This is problematic because daemons are extensions of every person in the universe; cutting them out quite literally reduces a character to nothing. Like Lyra's missing personality, daemons are crucial to the story and cannot be ignored.
Finally, the show is just so slooooow. The first two books in the series are not long books and don't dawdle at any particular event. I think 8 episodes is too many to cover the first book. Perhaps the first book would have been better suited for 5, maybe 6 episodes.
Or better yet, a 2 1/2 hour movie! Which is what we nearly got over a decade ago until New Line Cinema panicked when they realized they weren't getting the movie that they expected and then chopped off the ending and (somewhat clumsily) rearranged the remainder of the second half. If they ever were to release the original version of the movie, I think I know which adaptation I'd prefer.
That all being said, the series is still well-designed, if perhaps a different vision of the world from the books and the film, with a solid score and visuals (minus the missing daemons). I question the drawing of material from outside the first book, but am willing to go with it. The early scenes involving Will also look promising for his character.